


Away over all the rooftops

by nonbinarytaemin



Category: SHINee
Genre: Ace Nonbinary Taemin, Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Character, Fluff, Nonbinary Character, Other, me: projecting onto taemin like it's my job, mentions of trans/nonbinary Kibum, remember the episode of ofd where taemin scared us all, this is kind of like that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 19:43:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6164487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbinarytaemin/pseuds/nonbinarytaemin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taemin agrees to go for a walk and Jonghyun underestimates Taemin's love for being reckless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Away over all the rooftops

“Do you want to go on an adventure?” Jonghyun asks.

“What did you have in mind?” Taemin asks, eyeing Jonghyun over what’s left of their burger.

“I found something cool and I wanted to show you,” he says simply.

Taemin groans. One of the nice things about dating an upperclassmen was that Jonghyun knew every inch of campus by heart, but one of the awful things about knowing every inch of campus by heart was that not every inch of campus was exactly accessible. These “adventures” were, more often than not, weird midnight walks around campus that landed them somewhere illegal or dangerous. The last time they’d agreed to go see something cool, Jonghyun had tried to convince them to break open the bomb shelter behind the student center (It’s a shelter, Taemin! It’s public property!).

(In the end they had both gotten it open, and in the end they were both too scared of the oppressive darkness of it to explore any further.)

“Where is it?” they ask.

“It’s on north campus,” Jonghyun says. And then, when Taemin continues to look skeptical, “I promise it’ll be fun, come on. Baekhyun showed it to me last week.”  
  
“That definitely doesn’t help your case.”

Jonghyun sighs. “Just come with me, and then when we get back you can pick whatever movie to watch tonight.”

Tempting. Taemin’s had their eye on the new horror movies their dorm’s had for rent for a while now. They take another bite of their burger, pretend to chew it thoughtfully. “Okay, fine,” they say after a moment. “Let’s go.”

Jonghyun beams at them.

The only good dining hall, according to Jonghyun, is the one on south campus, so it’s still a bit of a walk once they’ve finished their food. They step out into the cold night air, shrinking further into their jackets, and Taemin moves closer to Jonghyun on instinct, chasing the body heat. Jonghyun just smiles, pulls his hand out of his pocket to lace his fingers with Taemin’s.

Taemin flinches, caught off guard by the contact even if it’s been almost two months, but they don’t pull away. “You good?” Jonghyun asks, glancing sideways at them.

Taemin nods, flushing. It just doesn’t come naturally to them – holding hands, being affectionate, _dating_. It’s not something they’ve had practice at, or given a whole lot of thought to outside of a few fleeting high school relationships (and relationships can only be so good when you’re fifteen). But Jonghyun’s never seemed to mind, and he keeps their hand in his as they cross the quad.

It’s Friday night, and campus is buzzing with groups of students heading off to parties in fours and fives, but the crowds on the sidewalks thin out some as they reach the classroom buildings clustered at the north end. Taemin catches a glimpse of the moon rising overhead before Jonghyun heads through an alley between two buildings.

“Are we going to the foreign language building?” Taemin guesses, even as Jonghyun leads them right past the old building.

“Why would we do that?”

Taemin shrugs. “Kibum said she saw a ghost there once.”

Jonghyun snorts. “Kibum only said that so that cute boy on the fourth floor would go study there with her.”

“Really?” Taemin asks. “Did it work?”

“No idea,” Jonghyun says. “This is where we’re going.” He gestures to the aging residence hall in front of them, steps barely lit by the flickering streetlights in front of it.

“Here?” Taemin asks, frowning. “I’ve been here already. Like a million times. This is where Jongin lives.” Taemin had originally planned to room with Jongin, but Jongin had decided to sacrifice the air conditioning and private bathrooms of the newer dorms in favor of having only one roommate. A sacrifice Taemin couldn’t bring themself to make.

Jonghyun rolls his eyes, leads Taemin up the stairs to the front door. “We’re not here to visit Jongin, though,” he says. “Do you have your card?”

Taemin sighs, drops Jonghyun’s hand to fish his ID card out of his back pocket and swipe them into the building. The lobby is mostly deserted – someone’s curled up in one of the armchairs, asleep, and Joonmyun, Jongin’s RA, is hunched over the front desk.

Joonmyun raises his head as they walk in, but Jonghyun just waves at him as he guides Taemin past the front desk and towards the stairwell. Taemin catches a glimpse of Joonmyun turning back to the homework he’s got spread out across the desk before the door slams shut behind them.

“He probably won’t get us in trouble,” Jonghyun says offhand.

“Why would he?” Taemin asks warily. Jonghyun doesn’t respond, just leads them up the stairs and into the sixth floor hallway. A few of the room’s doors are cracked open in the hopes of inviting guests, but the hallway is empty. Pushing the door closed quietly behind them, Jonghyun gestures to the window at the end of the hall.

Taemin raises their eyebrows.

“Okay.” Jonghyun reaches out and, with a bit of difficulty, forces the window open. “Let’s go.”

“Are you serious.”

“It’s fine, look – “ Jonghyun pulls himself up to the windowsill and swings his legs over. “You can stand on the roof.” He climbs the rest of the way through, offering his hand to Taemin.

Taemin hesitates only a moment, glancing back to make sure there’s still no one in the hallway. It’s probably a terrible idea, but most of the students have already left campus, and who’s there to see them? They knock Jonghyun’s hand away and pull themself through the window.

The chilly air hits them in a rush, but Jonghyun’s grinning at them and they can’t help smiling back. “This way,” he says, gesturing behind himself to where the roof slants up sharply. A thrill of excitement shoots through Taemin, and then they’re following Jonghyun eagerly up the roof.

Taemin’s not dressed for this – their shoes slip against the moss-covered shingles and their gloves snag on a gutter when they reach out to steady themself, but Jonghyun keeps one hand near their shoulder as they climb. He pulls himself over the gutter when they reach the top of the roof, extending a hand for Taemin that they gratefully accept this time.

“It’s flat up here,” he says. “But look.” He moves closer to the edge, and Taemin follows a bit too eagerly. The old roof shifts ominously under their feet, but there’s something exhilarating in it all the same.

The lights from the rooms below them are dim, but Taemin can still make out the shapes of roofs just below, classroom buildings huddled close together in a tight circle. “You can get to all the other buildings from here,” Jonghyun says. He’s looking at Taemin expectantly, almost hesitantly. “They’re all locked, so it’s not that useful, but it’s still kinda fun.”

But Taemin’s grinning, already crouching down so they can dangle their legs over the edge of the roof. “This is awesome,” they say, almost missing the answering smile that spreads over Jonghyun’s face. They can see the skyline of the city in the distance, a smear of dark buildings and pinpricks of light, roads cutting back and forth across the landscape below them. Up close, they can barely see through the windows of the surrounding buildings, no more than the outline of what might be a model skeleton and some desks.

They lean forward, barely gripping the edge with their gloves. “Is that the biology building?” And then, without waiting for an answer, they launch themself forward off the building, landing with a loud thud on the grimy tiles of the roof just below.

“Holy shit, Taemin – “ Jonghyun scrambles after them, lowering himself down much more carefully. There’s no flat surface here, but the slope is gentle enough that Taemin can shuffle their way across with their arms spread for balance. They can hear Jonghyun’s boots scraping along behind them.

“What’s that one?” Taemin asks, pointing to a building with a glass pane roof.

Jonghyun takes a moment to catch up to them, sliding along much more cautiously. “That’s the gross dining hall,” he says when he’s caught up.

“Can you walk on the glass?” Taemin asks.

“I have no idea.”

“Let’s find out.”

“Are you sure – “

Taemin leaps forward before Jonghyun could finish. They land on the glass with an ominous rattling sound, but nothing gives way under them. They take a few cautious steps forward, motioning for Jonghyun to join them.

The dining hall spreads out under their feet, rows and rows of tightly packed tables and buffet stations. Most of the tables are empty (Jonghyun wasn’t the only one who thought the food was bad), but there’s a blonde girl leaning over a table in the corner, distant enough that Taemin can barely make out her face.

“Is that Taeyeon?” Jonghyun asks, stepping gingerly beside Taemin.

“I think so,” Taemin says, squinting.

“It’s gotta be,” Jonghyun says, crouching down to get a closer look.

The panel underneath Jonghyun’s feet shifts with a creak, Jonghyun shrieks and jumps up again, and Taeyeon looks up. Taemin can’t exactly see her face, but they see the startled jump that spills her drink across her table.

“Oh shit,” Jonghyun says, and there’s really no reason for them to run, but Jonghyun says “Go!” and their nervous excitement’s already high enough as it is, and really, who doesn’t want to try running across a rooftop?

They’re racing back across the roofs in what is probably record time, clattering over the shingles and sending clumps of moss into the air. They land hard on the roof of the dorm, falling forward onto their hands and knees. Hopefully no one on the top floor is trying to sleep.

Jonghyun clambers over a few beats behind while they’re catching their breath. “Do you think she’s gonna try to get us in trouble?” Taemin asks, rising to their feet again. Taeyeon’s an RA; it’s probably in her job description to report two students climbing around on the roof.

“I doubt it,” Jonghyun says. “She doesn’t care about her job _that_ much.”

Taemin still can’t stay still, caught up in the thrill of being so high up with nothing to hold them back. They move toward the edge of the roof again, and Jonghyun follows after them. “That was terrifying,” he says.

“That was _awesome_ ,” Taemin says, beaming. From this side of the building they can see the grid of campus spreading out below them – clusters of old buildings broken up by the streetlights, the dark, open expanse of the quad, the river snaking through the center.

Taemin feels Jonghyn reaching out to take their hand again, and this time they don’t jump. “I forgot you like scaring the shit out of me,” he says.

Taemin laughs. “This was _your_ idea,” they say.

“Well, I thought you would think it was cool,” Jonghyun says. Taemin feels him shift beside them, and they turn towards him on instinct. Jonghyun’s looking up into their face, and he moves closer still as he brings his free hand up to rest on Taemin’s shoulder. He’s not put off, either, when Taemin takes a moment to think before they reach out in turn, wrap an arm around Jonghyun’s waist.

Jonghyun’s maybe expecting something romantic, but Taemin’s never been good at thinking fast enough for that. “I did think it was cool,” they say instead, and Jonghyun laughs.

“I’m glad,” he says. And then, more quietly, “Can I kiss you?”

Taemin doesn’t think they’ll ever get tired of this, of Jonghyun being so endlessly careful with them. Jonghyun had never dated anyone who was asexual, had never been with anyone so hesitant with physical touch and so bad with words, but he’d said he was willing to try, and he _does_. He tries so hard to limit everything to what Taemin is comfortable with, and Taemin wants some way to express how much that means, but what comes out is, “I don’t know, can you?”  
  
There’s a pause, and then Jonghyun whispers, “Taemin, if you make me say ‘may I kiss you’ I swear – “

Taemin just leans in, kisses Jonghyun first. His lips are chapped from the cold, but he’s so warm against Taemin, tilting his head to lean closer. Taemin hums against his lips, and this, this they definitely don’t mind.

But suddenly Jonghyun’s pulling back, stepping away. “I changed my mind,” he says, eyes falling to the sharp drop just beneath their feet where the roof ends. “I can’t close my eyes if I’m standing there, sorry.”  
  
Taemin laughs. “You’re such a dork,” they say, but they step back from the edge, tugging Jonghyun along with them so they can kiss him again.

**Author's Note:**

> finally living up to my namesake and delivering nb taem! too bad this isn't good.
> 
> comment if you also broke into a bomb shelter your freshman year. there's no way i was the only one.
> 
> update: i went by the bomb shelter the other day and it's covered up now so maybe i was the only one


End file.
